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Thank you Chrise, that cracked it for me, 7d was my only remaining clue

DrJax@20, I’ve seen them called ‘subtractive anagrams’, or ‘subbies’ if you want to sound cool ;-)
There’s a school of thought that if the letters requiring subtraction are themselves mixed up in the main fodder, then a secondary indicator (in addition to the anagram indicator) should be used to suggest this. Guardian setters seem not to follow this convention very often however (including today)

Really enjoying this. About half done. I'm assuming I must have the right answer to 21a but how does it parse?

i needed to google 21 - a surprising result!

Yes ChrisE. When you Google the answer and a word in the clue all becomes clear. A new one for me that.

I really enjoyed this - thank you, Philistine. Loved the theme. FOI: 10a LOI: 23d COD: 18d - liked the variation on the theme!

a very enjoyable half hour, 19d reminded me of a song by pete Seeger, lead belly, I don't know the original.

Enjoyable
FOI 19ac, LOI 19dn
19dn COD
First part of 21ac new to me but got answer from crossers and 2nfd part.

Found this tough, but got there in the end. Plenty of good clues. I needed a half time break, as often happens I found it a lot easier when I came back to it. All the best!

Finished. FOI was 1d. LOI 19d which to be honest I don't understand it was just the only word that fitted. I know Shakespeare's wife's name but not really seeing how the answer is derived.

COD for me was 14a.

Good puzzle today. Thanks to Philistine.